'Dare' leads to cliff rescue

The teenagers got stuck hundreds of feet up the cliff

Two teenagers had to be rescued from a ledge hundreds of feet up in the Avon Gorge after a dare went wrong.

The pair, aged 17 and 18, clambered up the cliff face wearing normal clothes and shoes, and became stuck when rain made the rocks slippery.

Crews from Avon Fire Brigade and the Avon and Somerset Cliff Rescue Team were called to the scene at Leigh Woods on the outskirts of Bristol at 1800 GMT on Monday.

A two-hour operation saw 20 firefighters and 20 cliff rescue volunteers work to reach the teenagers, eventually harnessing them and using ropes to get them to safety.

Distressed and sheepish

Mark Webb, of Avon Fire Brigade, said: "On a dare they went up to see how far they could get.

"As they got higher the rain came down and made the rock surfaces slippery, so they became stuck and couldn't get down."

Alan George, of Avon and Somerset Cliff Rescue, added: "We came up from the bottom while the fire brigade tried to get at them from the top.

"When we got to them they were distressed and very sheepish - they had risked life and limb for a dare.

"They were ill-equipped, wearing ridiculous leather shoes - it is a wonder pure gravity didn't bring them down."

The young men, who have not been named, were uninjured in the ordeal.